Brooke Mallett, 25, and John Duke Walker, 22, were each charged with first-degree murder and child neglect in the death of Mallett’s three-year-old child, Kaden Mallett, at Warren County Justice court on Friday afternoon.

The pair appeared before Judge James Jefferson and were both denied bond.

“This does not, at this point, indicate that they killed the child,” Sheriff Martin Pace said. “But their actions, or inactions, created the situation that created the death.”

The child was found dead in a pond on Friday morning by Warren County Sheriff’s deputies. Another child, approximately age 5, was taken into the custody of Child Protective Services.

“CPS and social workers are working closely with the sheriff’s office investigators to get to the bottom of this and find out exactly what led up to these circumstances that enabled these children to be out of the house for what appeared to be hours without the mother and boyfriend knowing.”

The pond where Kaden Mallett’s body was found was “several hundred yards” from the home where the children were staying and across Old Highway 27.

This is a developing story. The Vicksburg Post will update online as more information is available.